Bad news: Ken is changing ISP and he will be without one for a month [X(]
Perhaps he can retrieve his turns from work? We will see..but things may be
slow for a while.
I agree completely with your assessments Pauk and Honda. A continued advance up
the coast of New Guinea is the logical approach.
There is a couple of problems with this approach:
*) It will be very narrow and thus also vulnerable to attacks from the flanks (Truk/Marshalls)
*) Palau/Yap and Ulithi may have to be captured to open the route to the Philppines. These islands will be well defended.
*) Without the Marianas Ken can't bomb Japan until the Philippines have been secured
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/13/43
Surface Combat
Sent a fast surface group into Torokina as I observed some transports
there. Assumed that Ken had moved most of his PT boats to Gasmata.
I was right, but the small buggers had a sting! 3 destroyers have between
22 and 45 sys damage after taking only a few 0.50 cal and 20mm shells.
The retreating ships were not spotted by ac and got away with it.
The reward: 4 cargo ships sent to the botttom - with their supplies I hope [:)]
Such little 'stings' will cause a slow trickle of attrition on Ken's forces and slow
down his buildup.
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Torokina at 63,92
Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
DD Minegumo, Shell hits 1
DD Asagumo
DD Yugure
DD Shinonome, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Isonami
DD Uranami
DD Ayanami
Allied Ships
PT PT-127
PT PT-187, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT PT-191, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT PT-223
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Torokina at 63,92
Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
DD Minegumo, Shell hits 4
DD Asagumo, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Yugure
DD Shinonome, on fire
DD Isonami
DD Uranami
DD Ayanami, Shell hits 2
Allied Ships
PT PT-127
PT PT-223
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Torokina at 63,92
Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
DD Minegumo
DD Asagumo, on fire
DD Yugure
DD Shinonome, on fire
DD Isonami
DD Uranami
DD Ayanami
Allied Ships
AK Draco, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AK Albireo, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AK Caelum, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AK Castor, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Combat
More heavy pounding of Lae and Green/Buka Islands.
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Moved in a stronger CAP to Emirau today, LRCAP'ing a PC seems to work. No leakers!
Day Air attack on TF, near Emirau Island at 60,84
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 13
Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 20
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 5 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
Japanese Ships
AK India Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
APD APD-34, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Huzikawa Maru
PC Kyo Maru #2, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
APD APD-36
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Day Air attack on TF, near Emirau Island at 60,84
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 7
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 21
P-47C Thunderbolt x 7
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
APD APD-31
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-47C Thunderbolt bombing at 2000 feet
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Ground Combat
Only one small Naval guard unit left at Buin now...
Ground combat at Buin
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 13055 troops, 123 guns, 200 vehicles
Defending force 2769 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles
Allied assault odds: 13 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
486 casualties reported
Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
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Situation Map: New Guinea and the Solomons/New Britain
A tactical update!
Most of the forward base forces and construction units have been moved out from the exposed
perimeter bases. They will be moved to the rear and continue constructing forts and build new bases.
I'm moving reinforcements to bases like Madang, Hansa and Wewak. The same is being done in the SRA.
A full division has been split in 3 and is moving to Kendari, Menando and Sabang.
The 5 South Sea Detachments that arrived today have been posted to:
Bonin Jima
Iwo Jima
Marcus Island
Wake Island
A small island just south of Palau..can't remember its name
Felt that the string of islands from Wake to Iwo Jima needed to be strenghtened. Should be adequately fortified
and defended for now. 3 SNLF units have been released from China and are moving to the area between Biak and Hollandia.
Further reinforcements over the next 6-8 months will all go to Palau/Yap/Ulithi, the SRA and the Philippines.
4 crack divisions are still being held in strategic reserve. Still like the thought of mounting a powerful counter invasion if Ken
comes up with some cunning plan [;)]
I'll let you do the math, my calculations say 500+ fighters, 300+ DB, and 240+ TB at least. All I have to do is not get killed between now and then. Easier said than done I think. I'll probably need all of that and the 12 CVE with combat F4Fs and TBMs. 
